kraken x53 lcd display factory

This All-in-One (AIO) liquid cooler is designed with the ability to fit comfortably in most cases. Show CPU/GPU temperatures or customize with GIFs with the Kraken Z LCD display — you can personalize your all-in-one liquid cooler like never before.

Now that RGB lighting firmly has a hold over nearly ever hardware component and peripheral, there"s isn"t anything left to give the unicorn treatment—or is there? NZXT has released two new series in its popular line of Kraken coolers, the X-3 and Z-3, the latter of which features a customizable LCD screen. (That"s the new X53, X63, X73, Z63, and Z73, just to be clear.)

Instead of just displaying the NZXT logo in the center of the pump"s infinity mirror, there is a 2.36-inch, 24-bit color LCD screen on all the Z-3 models that you can customize with either data from NZXT"s CAM software or virtually any image of your liking. And yes, you can even use gifs. If you want to use faceplam Picard or dancing Jason Voorhees to express your personality via the AIO pump, you can do that. (Those would be my first two picks, anyway.)

While The X-3 series doesn"t come with an LCD screen, it has received a few upgrades too. NZXT says the LED ring in the pump is 10 percent larger and comes with a rotating top that allows you to reorient the NZXT logo right-side up, regardless of what direction the cooler is facing. Those who have or have used a Kraken cooler with an AMD processor know that the logo faces vertically due to the placement of the mounting brackets on the motherboard. The mounting bracket for Intel motherboards faces horizontally, which means the logo is right-side up. AMD rigs can finally have the logo facing the right way.

For those not inclined to math, that means swapping out the standard mirrored NZXT logo on the pump for the LCD screen is a $100 upsell. That might seem a lot to ask for a modest aesthetic upgrade, but it could be worse.

The MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion is a tried-and-tested AIO with consistent cooling performance. It"s one of the top-performing CPU coolers on the market right now and it goes head-to-head with other AIOs like the NZXT Kraken X72 and the Corsair H150i Pro. Cooler Master also has another variant called the MasterLiquid ML240 with a smaller 240mm radiator. We recommend opting for that if your PC case doesn"t have space for mounting a large 360mm one. In fact, the smaller 240mm variant is perfect for mini-ITX builds with limited space. You can also buy a compact version of the cooler with just a 120mm radiator, however, that"s not going to be enough to cool high-performance CPUs.

NZXT"s catalog of AIO liquid coolers includes a bunch of options in the form of the Kraken Z, Kraken X, and Kraken M series. While the Kraken Z series coolers are the most popular ones, we"ve picked the Kraken X53 AIO as the second-best liquid CPU cooler you can currently buy. This isn"t as expensive as the Kraken Z series coolers, and it only lacks the display on the water block. The cooling performance should more or less be similar to NZXT"s other 240mm AIOs. This AIO comes with a 240mm radiator coupled with two 120mm Aer P fans to blow the heat out of the case.

The water block is made out of copper and plastic, and it features a rotatable top to re-orient the logo. The rubber tubes are covered with nylon mesh sleeves to protect the component from any accidental leaks. It"s compatible with LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA1366, LGA2011, LGA2011-3, LGA2066, AM4, AM3, sTRX4, and TR4. The Kraken X53 can be used with almost all the relatively newer CPUs on the market, but we don"t recommend using it if you plan on overclocking your CPU. The 240mm radiator isn"t going to be enough to control the thermal output of high-performance CPUs, especially the overclocked ones.

The water block is the only component of the Kraken X53 with RGB lights. The included fans don"t have RGB, but you can use any 120mm fans with the radiator. NZXT itself has a bunch of RGB fans that are compatible with this AIO cooler. The Kraken x53 syncs with the NZXT CAM software to let you control the RGB lights. A fully decked-out NZXT build with, say, an NZXT case, fans, etc. will work well together and they can be controlled easily via the CAM software. NZXT users have mixed opinions about the CAM software, but it"s a fairly easy-to-use software and most importantly, it gets the job done.

The Kraken X53 is NZXT"s most affordable X-series AIO, but it delivers reliable performance. Just to reiterate, we don"t recommend this AIO for cooling a high-performance unlocked processor like the Core i9-11900K, though. This 240mm AIO should be enough to handle the thermal output of, say, Intel"s Core i5 or the Ryzen 5600X CPU. It"s safe to say that this AIO should be able to handle just about low to mid-tier CPUs on the market right now.

NZXT also has other AIO liquid coolers under the Z-series. These coolers have an LCD display on the water block that can be customized to show many things including the CPU temperature. The Kraken Z73 is also a great cooler, albeit a bit expensive. NZXT coolers are best paired with the company"s own PC cases to maintain the overall aesthetics of the build, but they can be installed on pretty much any case with enough for the radiator. NZXT hasn"t launched any new CPU coolers in a while, so you might want to wait and see if they come up with something new just in time for the holiday season.

In terms of design, the Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce X360 sports a 60mm LCD panel on the water block. The cooler also lets you add a microSD card using which you can play custom videos and pictures on the LCD using the RGB Fusion 2.0 software. There"s a copper base plate at the bottom of the water block along with a pair of rotating 90° fittings to which the coolant tubes are connected to the pump.

All-in-one liquid coolers, on the other hand, have their own advantages over air coolers and we think the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion is the one to go for. It"s our pick for the best AIO liquid cooler on the market for its excellent cooling performance, stunning design, ARGB lights. The NZXT Kraken X53 is another high-quality AIO that"ll save you some money for the other core components of your build. Lastly, for those who want the absolute best cooling experience for low temperatures with silent operation, we recommend buying an open-loop cooling kit like the Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45.

All-in-one (AIO) liquid CPU coolers may not have much headroom left when it comes to increasing their cooling efficiency but thanks to the fact that technology never rests there"s plenty of room for improvement in other areas such as noise levels and durability/endurance. On top of that RGB/ARGB lighting also keeps improving and so AIO models are not only getting more silent and durable but also much better looking. NZXT is a name i haven"t had in my reviews section for many years now but since they recently updated their AIO line to include the Kraken X-3 series i decided to take a closer look starting with the most popular member of the family, the Kraken X53 RGB AIO Liquid Cooler.

The Kraken X53 RGB is the updated version of the award winning and quite popular Kraken X53 AIO model (non-RGB) which NZXT released a while back. Now aside the aesthetical differences which include an RGB infinity mirror design with an enlarged ring size for the pump (10% larger featuring 9 RGB LEDs), rotatable top cap (360 degrees with 30 degree increments) and the dual AER RGB 2 120mm fluid dynamic bearing fans (1500RPM/52.44CFM/1.35mmH2O/22dBA) the latest Kraken X53 RGB also features Asetek"s 7th generation pump (2800RPM/12VDC/0.3A) which always according to them is not only more durable but also more silent. Of course, 240mm dual fan models may not offer the best cooling efficiency out there but they are compatible with pretty much every tower out there so that alone justifies their popularity. So, let"s see what the Kraken X53 RGB is capable of.

The NZXT Kraken X53 is the successor to our longtime favorite NZXT Kraken X52 that features some major improvements to look better and cool more efficiently. (We"ve seen this cooler easily keep an Intel Core i7-9700K running at full tilt, well under 50-degrees Celsius.) It’s available in 120mm, 240mm, and 360mm.

If you need the biggest, most powerful liquid cooling unit, look no further. The Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD has a large, 360mm radiator to handle the hottest CPUs and the highest overclock speeds. The Corsair ML RGB Elite fans can adjust to higher or lower levels, according to the moment’s cooling needs.

As far as lighting, the fans’ RGB lighting can also be adjusted with Corsair’s iCUE software, but the unit really raises the bar with the pump’s 2.1-inch IPS LCD display. It has 8-bit color depth for millions of color options. The display can show visual effects, and even GIFs or memes, all at 30fps (and, of course, it can display handy system performance data, like your CPU temperature).

There’s a good amount of RGB lighting on display here as well, although it’s not as flexible as other options on this list. Both fans sport RGB light rings and the pump includes a transparent window with RGB lighting inside.

Several cooler manufacturers have displays, but NZXT’s Kraken Z63 truly stands above the rest. The display contains important information like the CPU and GPU temperatures, but you can also have it display animated GIFs and other things, letting you truly personalize your setup.

The Kraken Z63 isn’t lacking in power, either, as it comes with a powerful pair of 140mm fans and an advanced Asetek water pump. If you like the idea of having a display, but don’t need tons of RGB light flooding your system, this is the one.

The Optional CPU Cooler, NZXT Kraken Z53 Liquid (w/ LCD Display), controls temperatures ensuring there is no throttling, even under full stress of the CPU. The Kraken Cooler comes with a customisable LCD Display, letting you display Custom GIFs or PC Data. All contained perfectly in the NZXT H510 Flow Case ensuring significant airflow through the mesh front, and two interior exhaust fans.